The Visitor Where one can talk with animals, Where Little People live in nuts, And wonders kindly come to pass Where candy grows on every bush, And visitors pick basketfuls It is the nicest time of day- Abbie Farwell Brown [18 THE VISITOR THE white goat Amaryllis, She wandered at her will At time of daffodillies Afar and up the hill: We hunted and we holloa'd And back she came at dawn, But what d'you think had followed?— His face was like a berry, His ears were high and pricked: A junket for his winning He stayed about the steading 247 And when the cocks crowed clearly The Satyrs and the Moon He slightly frowned, and with his eye He looked me through and through. "I'm quite as big for me," said he, "As you are big for you." -John Kendrick Bangs [1862 THE SATYRS AND THE MOON WITHIN the wood behind the hill The moon got tangled in the trees. Her splendor made the branches thrill And thrilled the breeze. The satyrs in the grotto bent Their heads to see the wondrous sight. "It is a god in banishment That stirs the night." The little satyr looked and guessed: Brought from that garden of the West- "It is a cyclops' glaring eye." "A temple dome from Babylon." "A Titan's cup of ivory." "A little sun." The tiny satyr jumped for joy, And kicked his hoofs in utmost glee. "It is a wondrous silver toy- Bring it to me!" A great wind whistled through the blue And caught the moon and tossed it high; A bubble of pale fire it flew Across the sky. The satyrs gasped and looked and smiled, And wagged their heads from side to side, Except their shaggy little child, Who cried and cried. 249 Herbert S. Gorman [18 THE CHILDREN THE CHILDREN WHEN the lessons and tasks are all ended, To bid me good night and be kissed; And when they are gone, I sit dreaming When the glory of God was about me, All my heart grows as weak as a woman's, They are idols of hearts and of households; The Children Those truants from home and from heaven,- I ask not a life for the dear ones, All radiant, as others have done, But that life may have just enough shadow 251 I would pray God to guard them from evil, Ah! a seraph may pray for a sinner, But a sinner must pray for himself. The twig is so easily bended, I have banished the rule and the rod I have taught them the goodness of knowledge, Where I shut them for breaking a rule; My frown is sufficient correction; I shall leave the old house in the autumn, That meet me each morn at the door! I shall miss them at morn and at even, And death says: "The school is dismissed!" May the little ones gather around me, To bid me good night and be kissed! Charles Monroe Dickinson [1842 |